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Clapping Hands to a Heroine

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Before the curtain is raised the introducer briefs the audience about how an extremist group attacked the Ethiopian Nation Defense Force (ENDF) from the back and how a private woman solider forced a colonel, passing information to a traitor group, to surrender. Then she disarms and forces him to walk all the way to Eretria. He tries to sweet talk her to defect like him in vain.
( Followed by a woman solider who held him at a gun point enters a colonel, hands up.)
It is easy to read anxiety from his face, while anger from hers. Both have put on Ethiopia’s uniform. A cellphone he had been using for passing on information to defectors is seen  in his hand.

“My dear sister
There is no one perfect
Like me and my likes
You better defect.

Our desire is for
Own ethnic group's end
Arsenals from
The national army
To loot.”

“Ha Ha 
Key arsenals to loot
No way
A national feeling
In my heart
Has put down a root
I grew up imbibing
Many a Herds’ man flute
‘ In defending Ma Ethiopia
My blood
Could flow like
A flood!!’

Traitor, know you must,
Grease my soul
I shall not
With a treasonous soot
When it comes to
Nations sovereignty
To cherished life
Give not I a hoot.”

“Dear sister
You better spare your life
Don’t you see elsewhere
Opportunities for you
Are rife?
Say a chef
With a better payment
With nimble hands
Onions and chickens
You could chop
With a knife.”

“Who put a ban
A solider, a woman
Should not carry
A gun?
They must carry one
To throw
Traitors like you into
History’s trash can.”

The curtain is put down and the introducer appears and says
“He tried
To flee in vain
Suffering psychological pain
Or traitors’s bane”

(Music of Ethiopian sentiment will be on Air for a minute. When the curtain is raised the soldier at a gunpoint force the colonel  lead the road.)

“You better
Take off the boot
From your right foot
Do the same to the left one
And barefooted trek
Till appears on the horizon
A sparkly sun,
Hurry up man
Otherwise on you
The rocky road
Turns a frying pan.

But before that
Put down
Your gun.

Hurry up
Lead the road
If you dare
Try a trick
You will be
A dead man quick,
Also you must be
Sick to think
A woman solider
Is weak.
In a dead heat
Her stamina could
Reach its peack
Especially if
She is Ethiopian,
Granddaughter of Taitu,
She could dexterously
Handle a gun!

Traitor ex-boss
You know something
Before one’s nation
Should come nothing.

Given the rank of a colonel
How come you abnegate
Your country
There is nothing so funny.

In defending 
Nation’s sovereignty
We should not fail
When it comes
Fighting back
Tooth and nail.”

“ Traitor how could you
On the back
The unsuspecting
National army attack?
How come
An ounce of decency
You lack?

Attacking nation
Defending army
You opened the door
For historic enemies
Who adore
To make a dabble
To invade Ethiopia
If found feeble.

Measure for measure,
Political thugs
The harm you have been
Inflicting on fellow soldiers
And innocent civilians
Now you will suffer.”

“ Dear sister
Narrow nationalism
On par with
Fascism and Nazism
Have clouded
My mind
Crazy me,
You must not mind
Please my subordinate
For today
Let me run away
In the future
I will try
To mend my way!”

“Traitor know you must
Your retribution
God has set
In motion.

Behind bars
Is your right place
There you will rote
With resentment
Stamped face.

Move hands up hurry
About you
I do not have to worry.”

(Soldiers from the other side come and take the colonel captive and exchange salute with the woman solider. Then the curtain is put down.)
The introducer appears and says Journalists have begun to give the heroine wide media coverage
High ranking women government officials, those who came to the forth following nation-adopted reform, congratulate the valorous girl  with clapping hands.


“On TV many
Watched your story agape
Many a woman promised
To come on your footstep
Putting on a military cape! ”

“ Yes as she said
I’m proud of our women
Soldiers’ prowess
Out our sovereignty-
Threatening challenges
To address.”

“Beloved sisters
Thank you
There is no source
Of pride
Than defending one’s
Sovereignty override.”
////

heroicTraitortreason.

◄ Terrorizing the terrorist

Crocodile tears ►

Comments

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Alem Hailu G/Kristos

Wed 23rd Dec 2020 13:04

Dear Aviva Rifka Bhandari

Thank you for your interesting and genuine comment.That is why I like WOL that helped me a lot in honing my skills.
What matters is you liked the writing skill.The comment shows your literary competence too.This tip fuels my passion.

As you said I believe on individual differences.

And I often appreciate Art for Art sake.But at times unfolding in life could lead you in a different direction-- Art for life's sake.

I could not sit back with folded hands when over 700 people from one ethnic group in my country were hacked to death by the heinous.(Mai Kadra,Ethiopia as attested by Amnesty International,Human rights Watch)The heinous were supported by historic enemies of the country.
If you dig deep and do research it is not hard to discern the truth and take sides.
I believe no sane person sides those who commit genocide and spill the blood of the innocent(Some journalists in the global media & dignitaries are shamefully doing so). Stabbing people in the back is also a disgusting behavior. Soldiers in the ditch are out with their head in the cross hairs.As such they could expect nothing from the back.
Condoning the impish will be no less crime specially after one realized the fact.
When a poet witnesses such a thing s/he will experience evolution of muse. For example Salomeja Neris from Lithuanian changed her focus from Romantic poems to War (Nazism)condemning poems when her country was invaded by Nazi Germany.You start reading her collection of poems put in chronological order laughing and end up weeping.(MY MA thesis was on Her book,Blue Sister River Vilija.The thesis was Published by Lambart Publisher,Germany).

Enda Saint Vincent Milay from America went through the same experience.Poets during that era experienced evolution of muse.

Of course reaching at the fact takes time.
It did take time to condemn slavery,capitalism,fascism,Nazism ,Apartheid and the like.

Your prudence not to take sides before probing on the matter is good.But calling a spade a spade pays.

Let me wind up with one poem of Salomeja Neris I translated into Amharic

Child of War

( By Salomeja Neris Lithuania Poet/Translation in English Dorian Rottenberg/Translation in Amharic Alem Hailu)

O child of war, preserve your weapon,
For future children let it stay,
For they will come and ask their question
What was the world like in our day?

For them, born under stars more lucky,
It will be hard to understand
How could the sky have been exploded
While battles raged on see and land?

How,flowing black with blood,could rivers
Rock,bridges bombs had battered down
They'll never see it-as you never
Saw sunshine in the world around.

Preserve your weapon,little eagles,
Of many battle it will tell
Of days ferocious and heroic
For grandson to remember well.



ሰባዊ ቀንበጥ አርበኞች


ምስኪን ልጆች
ሰባዊ ቀንበጥ አርበኞች
መሳሪያችሁን በደንብ በቅርስነት አስቀምጡ
ለአምሳያዎቻችሁ በዘመን ሃዲድ ለሚመጡ
ምክንያቱም በኛ ጊዜ
ሉላዊ ገጽታው እንዴት እንደነበረ
መጠየቃቸው ስለማይቀር!

ምክኒያቱም እድለኛ ሆነው ለተወለዱት
ለማስረዳት ስለሚያዳግት እንዴት
ሰማዩ እንደተናጠ በፍንዳታ
በመሬት በባህር ጦርነት
ሲካሄድ ያላፍታ-ማለት ልክ
እናንተ የሰላም ጸሃይ የምትስተዋልበት
ሰማይ እንዳላያችሁት!

ጠይም የደም ጎርፍ እንዴት አድርጎ
የቦንብ ድልድይ ፍርስራሽ
እንደወሰድ ጠራርጎ !

ለልጅ ልጅ ስለሚዘከር ስለበርካታ
የጅግንነት የአይበገሬነት ውሎ
አደራ መሳሪያች ሁን በደንብ አኑሩ ልጆች
ተናንሽ ንስሮች !

በ ሳሎ ሜዳ ነሪስ
ትርጉም አለም ሃይሉ


(ሉትኒያ በናዚ በተወረረችበት ወቅት ገጣሚዋ በግጥም ወታደሮችን ታበረታታ ነበር። አንድ ህጻን ወታደር የስዋን ግጥም ከጋዜጣ ቀዶ የደረት ኪሱ ይዞ በማሺን ጋን ተመቶ እንደሞተ ተገኝትዋል)

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Aviva Rifka Bhandari

Tue 22nd Dec 2020 22:45

I read this earlier and I think this is an incredible piece of writing, however I didn't want to like or comment it initially because my personal philosophies and experiences are anti-nationalistic and against borders and therefore against concepts such as treason etc, so I can't relate and don't want to associate to or applaud the majority of what it describes. (even though I understand that others who have lived different lives in different places may well relate much better to every aspect, but I am not them, I am me)

But nobody else has liked or commented it (as yet) so I thought I'll at least pipe up and admire the writing skill, rather than have it go without any response at all (as yet)

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